Systems and methods for configuring an ipv4 process without associating the ipv4 process with an ip loopback address

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods configuring a process that uses IPv4 communication without associating the IPv4 process with an IP loopback address are disclosed. Embodiments may include receiving a message to configure an IPv4 process. Embodiments may also include determining if a configuration parameter associated with the received message is set to indicate that one or more default IP loopback addresses are to be used as IP loopback addresses to associate with the IPv4 process. Embodiments may further include completing the configuration of the IPv4 process without associating an IP loopback address with the IPv4 process when the configuration parameter is determined to not be set to indicate that one or more default IP loopback addresses are to be used as IP loopback addresses to associate with the IPv4 process.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The instant disclosure relates to computing systems. More specifically,this disclosure relates to the configuration of an IPv4 process on acomputing system without associating the IPv4 process with an IPloopback address.

BACKGROUND

In some computing systems, an IPv4 process must typically be associatedwith at least one IP loopback address. In other words, when configuringan IPv4 process on some systems, the IPv4 process must be associatedwith an IP loopback address during configuration. If the configurationdoes not associate an IP loopback address with the IPv4 process, thenthe configuration of the IPv4 process may be terminated and/or flaggedas an erroneous configuration.

However, for some uses of the IPv4 process, associating the IPv4 processwith an IP loopback address may not be necessary. But becauseassociating the IPv4 process with an IP loopback address is required bysome methods for configuring IPv4 processes, the association must bedone even when such an association is likely not necessary for aparticular use of the IPv4 process. As a result, unnecessary time, andconsequently money, may be wasted in an attempt to determine and specifyunused IP loopback addresses to associate with the IPv4 process beingconfigured on the computing system for a use that does not require theassociation of an IP loopback address to the IPv4 process. Accordingly,these means for configuring IP processes on computing systems are lessthan optimal.

SUMMARY

The configuration of an IPv4 process on a computing system may beimproved through the development of an IPv4 configuration process inwhich the IPv4 process can be configured on the computing system withoutassociating it with an IP loopback address. in particular, a method forconfiguring a process that uses IPv4 communication without associatingthe IPv4 process with an IP loopback address may include receiving, by aprocessor, a message to configure an IPv4 process. The method may alsoinclude determining, by the processor, if a configuration parameterassociated with the received message is set to indicate that one or moredefault IP loopback addresses are to be used as IP loopback addresses toassociate with the IPv4 process. The method may further includecompleting, by the processor, the configuration of the IPv4 processwithout associating an IP loopback address with the IPv4 process whenthe configuration parameter is determined to not be set to indicate thatone or more default IP loopback addresses are to be used as IP loopbackaddresses to associate with IPv4 process.

According to another embodiment, a computer program product may includea non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions which,when executed by a processor of a computing system, cause the processorto perform the step of receiving a message to configure an IPv4 process.The medium may also include instructions which, when executed by aprocessor of a computing system, cause the processor to perform the stepof determining if a configuration parameter associated with the receivedmessage is set to indicate that one or more default IP loopbackaddresses are to be used as IP loopback addresses to associate with theIPv4 process. The medium may further include instructions which, whenexecuted by a processor of a computing system, cause the processor toperform the step of completing the configuration of the IPv4 processwithout associating an IP loopback address with the IPv4 process whenthe configuration parameter is determined to not be set to indicate thatone or more default IP loopback addresses are to be used as IP loopbackaddresses to associate with the IPv4 process.

According to yet another embodiment, an apparatus may include a memoryand a processor coupled to the memory. The processor may be configuredto execute the step of receiving a message to configure an IPv74process. The processor may also be configured to execute the step ofdetermining if a configuration parameter associated with the receivedmessage is set to indicate that one or more default IP loopbackaddresses are to be used as IP loopback addresses to associate with theIPv4 process. The processor may be further configured to execute thestep of completing the configuration of the IPv4 process withoutassociating an IP loopback address with the IPv4 process when theconfiguration parameter is determined to not be set to indicate that oneor more default IP loopback addresses are to be used as IP loopbackaddresses to associate with the IPv4 process.

The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the features and technicaladvantages of the present invention in order that the detaileddescription of the invention that follows may be better understood.Additional features and advantages of the invention will be describedhereinafter that form the subject of the claims of the invention. Itshould be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the concepts andspecific embodiments disclosed may be readily utilized as a basis formodifying or designing other structures for carrying out the samepurposes of the present invention. It should also be realized by thoseskilled in the art that such equivalent constructions do not depart fromthe spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appendedclaims. The novel features that are believed to be characteristic of theinvention, both as to its organization and method of operation, togetherwith further objects and advantages will be better understood from thefollowing description when considered in connection with theaccompanying figures. It is to be expressly understood, however, thateach of the figures is provided for the purpose of illustration anddescription only and is not intended as a definition of the limits ofthe present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a more complete understanding of the disclosed systems and methods,reference is now made to the following descriptions taken in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a flow chart illustrating the configuration of a process thatuses IPv4 communication according to one embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart illustrating a method for configuring a processthat uses IPv4 communication without associating the IPv4 process withan IP loopback address according to another embodiment of thedisclosure.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a computer network according toone embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a computer system according toone embodiment of the disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

By developing an IPv4 configuration process in which the IPv4 processcan be configured on the computing system without associating it with anIP loopback address, the configuration of an IPv4 process on a computingsystem may be improved so as to remove the primary drawbacks ofconventional means for configuring IPv4 processes on computing systems.For example, when an IPv4 process need not be associated with an IPloopback address in order to perform the functions for which the IPv4process was developed, the IPv4 process can be configured on thecomputing system without terminating erroneously and without beingassociated with an IP loopback address. As a result, the unnecessarytime and money wasted by conventional means for configuring IPv4processes on computing systems may be reduced, if not eliminated.

An IPv4 process may be a process, also referred to as an application,that utilizes internet protocol version 4 as a communications protocol.An IP loopback address may be an IP address which can be used as thedestination address of a message when the computing system wants themessage to be sent to itself. Thus, an IP loopback address may also bereferred to as a self-address. In some embodiments, the range of IPaddresses from 127.0.0.0 to 127.255.255.255 may be used as IP loopbackaddresses. When a message, such as an IP datagram, is sent to a loopbackaddress, the message may not be passed down to the data link layer fortransmission. Instead, the message may loop back to the computing systemat the IP level. IP loopback addresses are often used for testingpurposes, such as, for example, to test the implementation of the IPv4protocol on the computing system. For example, when a computing systemcreates a message packet with destination address as an IP loopbackaddress, the higher layers in the IP protocol may be tested withoutproblems at the lower layers, such as interference from a NetworkInterface Controller (NIC), manifesting themselves.

FIG. 1 is a flow chart illustrating the configuration of a process thatuses IPv4 communication according to one embodiment of the disclosure.It is noted that embodiments of method 100 may be implemented inaccordance with the systems and embodiments described herein withrespect to FIGS. 3-4. For example, embodiments of method 100 may beimplemented by network 300 or computer system 400. In general,embodiments of method 100 may be implemented by other similar systemswithout deviating from this disclosure so long as the systems, whetherdirectly or indirectly, support the operations as described herein.

Specifically, flow 100 includes, at block 102, receiving a message toconfigure an IPv4 process. For example, a processor operating on acomputing system may receive a message to configure an IPv4 process onthe computing system. In some embodiments, the message may be receivedbased on user input. In another embodiment, the message may be receivedbased on a triggering event, such as, for example, the execution of aparticular instruction in a configuration sequence.

At block 104, the processor may determine whether or not to inheritdefault IP loopback addresses to associate with the IPv4 process beingconfigured on the computing system. For example, in one embodiment, theprocessor may determine if a configuration parameter associated with thereceived message is set to indicate that one or more default IP loopbackaddresses are to be used as IP loopback addresses to associate with theIPv4 process. According to one embodiment, the configuration parametermay be a parameter within the received message requesting configurationof an IPv4 process. In another embodiment, the configuration parametermay be a parameter transmitted along with the message, but not part ofthe information that makes up the message. In some embodiments, theconfiguration parameter may have been set based on user input, such asinput from a network administrator. In another embodiment, theconfiguration parameter may have been set based on a triggering event,such as, for example, the execution of a particular instruction by thecomputing system. In some embodiments, the configuration parameter maynot have been set to provide any indication. For example, in someembodiments the configuration parameter may not have been set toindicate that default IP loopback addresses should or should not beinherited. Thus, the configuration parameter may remain in a defaultsetting,

If, at block 104, the processor determines that the configurationparameter is set to indicate that one or more default IP loopbackaddresses are to be used as IP loopback addresses to associate with theIPv4 process, then flow 100 may proceed to block 106. At block 106, theprocessor may determine if the default IP loopback addresses exist. Forexample, in one embodiment, the processor may determine if the one ormore default loopback addresses exist in a memory. According to oneembodiment, the default IP loopback addresses may have been stored in amemory location within the computing system. For example, in oneembodiment, before the configuration of the IPv4 process was initiated,a user, such as a network administrator, may have specified default IPloopback addresses which can be associated with an IPv4 process. Inresponse, the computing system may have stored the specified default IPloopback addresses in a memory location which can be accessed by thecomputing system when an IPv4 process is to be configured on thecomputing system.

If, at block 106, the processor determines that the one or more defaultIP loopback addresses do not exist in a memory, then flow 100 mayproceed to block 108. At block 108, the processor may be configured tooutput an error signal. In some embodiments, the error may exist becauseat block 104 the computing system received an indication that default IPloopback addresses should be used to associate the Ipv4 process beingconfigured on the computing system with an IP loopback address, but atblock 106 the processor determined that no default IP loopback addressesexist or that no default IP loopback addresses have been specified.Thus, as indicated at block 108 of flow 100, the processor may beconfigured to output an error signal when the one or more default IPloopback addresses are determined to not exist in the memory and theconfiguration parameter is determined to be set to indicate that one ormore default IP loopback addresses are to be used as IP loopbackaddresses to associate with the IPv4 process.

In some embodiments, an error signal may include a notification sent toa user interface device indicating that the configuration terminatedwith an error, and therefore was not completed. In another embodiment,the error signal may include recording in a log that the configurationterminated because of an error. In general, the output error signal maybe any type of signal so long as it relays an indication that theconfiguration was terminated with an error.

If, however, at block 106, the processor determines that the one or moredefault IP loopback addresses do exist in a memory, then flow 100 mayproceed to block 110. At block 110, the processor may associate one ormore default IP loopback addresses with the IPv4 process beingconfigured on the computing system. In other words, the processor maycomplete a portion of the configuration sequence, namely the associationof the IPv4 process with at least one default IP loopback address. Inparticular, at block 110, in response to a determination at block 106that the one or more default IP loopback addresses exist in memory, theprocessor may associate an IP loopback address of the one or moredefault IP loopback addresses with the IPv4 process when theconfiguration parameter is determined to be set to indicate that one ormore default IP loopback addresses are to be used as IP loopbackaddresses to associate with the IPv4 process.

As indicated in FIG. 1, flow 100 may proceed to block 112 after defaultIP loopback addresses have been associated with the IPv4 process, suchas at block 110. However, as also indicated in FIG. 1, flow 100 may alsoproceed to block 112 when the processor determines at block 104 that theconfiguration parameter is set to indicate that no default IP loopbackaddresses are to be used as IP loopback addresses to associate with theIPv4 process. Further indicated in FIG. 1 is that flow 100 may alsoproceed to block 112 when the processor determines at block 104 that theconfiguration parameter is not set to provide any indication. Forexample, the configuration parameter may not have been set to indicatethat default IP loopback addresses should or should not be inherited. Inother words, as a default, flow 100 may proceed to block 112 from block104.

At block 112, the processor may determine whether IP loopback addresseswere provided with the received message, such as the message received atblock 102. In other words, the processor may determine if addresses ofone or more IP loopback addresses to associate with the IPv4 processhave been received in association with the message. According to oneembodiment, the IP loopback addresses to associate with the IPv4 processmay be embedded within the received message requesting configuration ofan IPv4 process. In another embodiment, the IP loopback addresses toassociate with the IPv4 process may be IP addresses transmitted alongwith the message, but not part of the information that makes up themessage.

In some embodiments, IP loopback addresses provided with the receivedmessage to configure the IPv4 process may be provided when initiatingthe configuration of the IPv4 process. For example, in some embodiments,the IP loopback addresses may have been specified based on user input,such as input from a network administrator. In another embodiment, theIP addresses may have been received along with the message based on atriggering event, such as, for example, the execution of a particularinstruction by the computing system. However, in some embodiments, evenwhen the IP addresses may have been received along with the messagebased on a triggering event, the IP addresses may still have beenspecified by a user when initiating the configuration of the IPv4process. Thus, in some embodiments, the determination at block 112 mayrefer to a determination of whether or not a user provided IP loopbackaddresses to associate with the IPv4 process when initiating theconfiguration of the IPv4 process.

If, at block 112, the processor determines that no addresses of one ormore IP loopback addresses to associate with the IPv4 process werereceived in association with the received message and the processoralready determined, such as at block 104, that the configurationparameter was in a default setting, then flow 100 may proceed to block114. For example, in some embodiments, flow 100 may proceed to block 114when the processor determines at block 112 that a user did not provide,when initiating a configuration of the IPv4 process, one or more IPloopback addresses to associate with the IPv4 process duringconfiguration of the IPv4 process and that the configuration parameterwas in a default setting, for example, as determined at block 104.

At block 114, the processor may determine if default IP loopbackaddresses exist. in some embodiments, the processor may not have alreadymade the determination as to whether or not default IP loopbackaddresses exist. Therefore, in some embodiments, if the processor hasnot already made such a determination during the configuration of theIPv4 process, then at block 114, the processor may perform the actionsdescribed with reference to block 106 to determine if the default IPloopback addresses exist. If, however, the processor has already madethe determination as to whether or not default IP loopback addressesexist or not, such as, for example, by performing the actions disclosedwith reference to block 106, then, at block 114, the processor mayforego the determination and use the results of the previousdetermination, such as a determination made at block 106.

If, at block 114, the processor determines that one or more default IPloopback addresses do not exist in a memory, then flow 100 may proceedto block 122, which is described below, to complete the configuration ofthe IPv4 process without associating an IP loopback address with theIPv4 process. If, however, at block 114, the processor determines thatone or more default IP loopback addresses do exist in a memory, thenflow 100 may proceed to block 120. At block 120, the processor mayassociate one or more default IP loopback addresses with the IPv4process being configured on the computing system. Associating one ormore default IP loopback addresses with the IPv4 process at block 120may refer to the same operations performed at block 110, wherein one ormore default IP loopback addresses are also associated with the IPv4process. Thus, the discussion associated with reference to block 110regarding association of one or more default IP loopback addresses withthe IPv4 process may also apply to block 120. In some embodiments, flow100 may proceed to block 122 after default IP loopback addresses havebeen associated with the IPv4 process, such as at block 120.

At block 122, the processor may complete the configuration of the IPv4process and exit. In some embodiments, the completion of theconfiguration and the exiting may be performed without outputting anerror signal and without having associated an IP loopback addressprovided by a user with the IPv4 process being configured on thecomputing system. In other words, in some embodiments, an exit indicatedat block 122 may represent the completion of the configuration of theIPv4 process without associating an IP loopback address provided by auser with the IPv4 process. For example, in one embodiment, if at block104, the processor determines that the configuration parameter is notset because it is still in its default setting, and if at block 112, theprocessor determines that no addresses of one or more IP loopbackaddresses to associate with the IPv4 process were received inassociation with the message, then flow 100 may proceed to block 122 viablocks 114 and 120 to complete the configuration of the IPv4 processwithout associating an IP loopback address provided by a user with theIPv4 process and exit. More specifically, in some embodiments,associating an IPv4 process with IP loopback addresses may refer toassociating an IPv4 process with IP loopback addresses provided by auser when initiating a configuration of the IPv4 process, such asassociation described with reference to block 124. Thus, by associatingIP loopback addresses with the IPv4 process via default IP loopbackaddresses instead of IP loopback addresses provided by a user wheninitiating the configuration of the IPv4 process, the processor maycomplete configuration of the IPv4 process without having associated IPloopback addresses provided by a user with the IPv4 process. Therefore,in some embodiments, the processor may complete the configuration of theIPv4 process without associating an IP loopback address provided by auser with the IPv4 process when the configuration parameter isdetermined to not be set to indicate that one or more default IPloopback addresses are to be used as IP loopback addresses to associatewith the IPv4 process.

Returning to block 112, if, at block 112, the processor determines thatthe addresses of one or more IP loopback addresses to associate with theIPv4 process were received in association with the message, then flow100 may proceed to block 124. For example, in some embodiments, flow 100may proceed to block 124 when the processor determines at block 112 thata user provided, when initiating a configuration of the IPv4 process,one or more IP loopback addresses to associate with the IPv4 processduring configuration of the IPv4 process.

At block 124, the processor may associate the one or more IP loopbackaddresses provided with the message with the IPv4 process when theaddresses of one or more IP loopback addresses to associate with theIPv4 process are determined, such as at block 112, to have been receivedin association with the message. In some embodiments, associating theone or more IP loopback addresses provided with the message with theIPv4 process, such as at block 124, may refer to association because theIP loopback addresses provided with the message may have been providedby a user when initiating the configuration of the IPv4 process. Inother words, because the one or more IP loopback addresses may have beenprovided, the one or more IP loopback addresses associated with the IPv4process at block 124 may be referred to as having been associated withthe IPv4 process. As illustrated in FIG. 1, in some embodiments, afterthe processor associates the one or more IP loopback addresses providedwith the message with the IPv4 process at block 124, flow 100 mayproceed to block 126.

At block 126, the processor may determine if duplicates of an IPloopback address have been associated with the IPv4 process. Inparticular, the processor may determine if an IP loopback addressincluded in the one or more IP loopback addresses received inassociation with the message and associated with the IPv4 process isalso included in the one or more default IP loopback addressesassociated with the IPv4 process. If the processor determines that thereare no duplicates associated with the IPv4 process, then flow 100 mayproceed to block 122 wherein the configuration of the IPv4 process iscompleted and the configuration process is exited. In some embodiments,if flow 100 proceeds to block 122 through block 126, then completion ofthe configuration at block 122 may include association of the IPv4process with at least an IP loopback address received in associationwith the message, such as at block 124, or an IP loopback address partof one or more default IP loopback addresses, such as at block 110.

If, however, at block 126, the processor determines that there areduplicates, then flow 100 may proceed to block 128. At block 128, theprocessor may modify a list of IP loopback addresses associated with theIPv4 process to remove the duplicates. In particular, at block 128, theprocessor may modify the IP loopback addresses associated with the IPv4process to remove duplicates when an IP loopback address included in theone or more IP loopback addresses received in association with themessage and associated with the IPv4 process is determined to also beincluded in the one or more default IP loopback addresses associatedwith the IPv4 process. In some embodiments, modification at block 128may include modification of a list of IP loopback addresses associatedwith the IPv4 process. According to some embodiments, after modifyingthe IP loopback addresses associated with the IPv4 process at block 128,flow 100 may proceed to block 122.

Returning to block 112, if, at block 112, the processor determines thatno IP loopback addresses to associate with the IPv4 process werereceived in association with the message and that, at block 104, theprocessor determined that the configuration parameter is set to indicatethat one or more default IP loopback addresses are not to be used as IPloopback addresses to associate with the IPv4 process, then flow 100 mayproceed from block 112 to block 122.

In some embodiments, if flow 100 proceeds to block 122 directly fromblock 112 or block 114, then, at block 122, the processor may completethe configuration of the IPv4 process and exit without outputting anerror signal and without having associated an IP loopback address withthe IPv4 process being configured on the computing system. In otherwords, in some embodiments, an exit indicated at block 122 may representthe completion of the configuration of the IPv4 process withoutassociating an IP loopback address with the IPv4 process. For example,in one embodiment, if at block 104, the processor determines that theconfiguration parameter is not set because it is still in its defaultsetting or that it is set to indicate that no default IP loopbackaddresses should be inherited, and if at block 112, the processordetermines that no addresses of one or more IP loopback addresses toassociate with the IPv4 process were received in association with themessage, then flow 100 may proceed to block 122 via block 112 or block114 to complete the configuration of the IPv4 process withoutassociating an IP loopback address with the IPv4 process and exit.Therefore, in some embodiments, the processor may complete theconfiguration of the IPv4 process without associating an IP loopbackaddress with the IPv4 process when the configuration parameter isdetermined to not be set to indicate that one or more default IPloopback addresses are to be used as IP loopback addresses to associatewith the IPv4 process.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart illustrating the configuration of a process thatuses IPv4 communication without associating the IPv4 process with an IPloopback address according to one embodiment of the disclosure. It isnoted that embodiments of method 200 may be implemented in accordancewith the systems and embodiments described herein with respect to FIGS.3-4. For example, embodiments of method 200 may be implemented bynetwork 300 or computer system 400. In general, embodiments of method200 may be implemented by other similar systems without deviating fromthis disclosure so long as the systems, whether directly or indirectly,support the operations as described herein.

Specifically, method 200 includes, at block 202, receiving, by aprocessor, a message to configure an IPv4 process. At block 204, method200 includes determining, by the processor, if a configuration parameterassociated with the received message is set to indicate that one or moredefault IP loopback addresses are to be used as IP loopback addresses toassociate with the IPv4 process. At block 206, method 200 includescompleting, by the processor, the configuration of the IPv4 processwithout associating an IP loopback address with the IPv4 process whenthe configuration parameter is determined to not be set to indicate thatone or more default IP loopback addresses are to be used as IP loopbackaddresses to associate with the IPv4 process.

The schematic flow chart diagrams of FIGS. 1 and 2 are generally setforth as logical flow chart diagrams. As such, each depicted order andlabeled steps are indicative of one embodiment of the disclosed method.While, for purposes of simplicity of explanation, methodologies areshown and described as a series of acts/blocks, it is to be understoodand appreciated that the claimed subject matter is not limited by thenumber or order of blocks, as some blocks may occur in different ordersand/or at substantially the same time with other blocks from what isdepicted and described herein. Moreover, not all illustrated blocks maybe required to implement methodologies described herein. It is to beappreciated that functionality associated with blocks may be implementedby various aspects of the systems disclosed herein. Other steps andmethods may be conceived that are equivalent in function, logic, oreffect to one or more steps, or portions thereof, of the illustratedmethods. Additionally, the format and symbols employed are provided toexplain the logical steps of the methods and are understood not to limitthe scope of the methods. Although various arrow types and line typesmay be employed in the flow chart diagrams, they are understood not tolimit the scope of the corresponding methods. Indeed, some arrows orother connectors may be used to indicate only the logical flow of themethods. For instance, an arrow may indicate a waiting or monitoringperiod of unspecified duration between enumerated steps of the depictedmethods. Additionally, the order in which a particular method occurs mayor may not strictly adhere to the order of the corresponding stepsshown.

FIG. 3 illustrates one embodiment of a system 300 for configuring aprocess that uses IPv4 communication without associating the IPv4process with an IP loopback address according to an embodiment of thedisclosure. The system 300 may include a server 302, a data storagedevice 306, a network 308, and a user interface device 310. The server302 may also be a hypervisor-based system executing one or more guestpartitions hosting operating systems with software modules having serverconfiguration information. In a further embodiment, the system 300 mayinclude a storage controller 304, or a storage server configured tomanage data communications between the data storage device 306 and theserver 302 or other components in communication with the network 308. Inan alternative embodiment, the storage controller 304 may be coupled tothe network 308.

In one embodiment, the user interface device 310 is referred to broadlyand is intended to encompass a suitable processor-based device, such asa desktop computer, a laptop computer, a personal digital assistant(PDA) or tablet computer, a smartphone or other mobile communicationdevice having access to the network 308. In a further embodiment, theuser interface device 310 may access the Internet or other wide area orlocal area network to access a web application or web service hosted bythe server 302 and may provide a user interface for enabling a user toenter or receive information.

The network 308 may facilitate communications of data between the server302 and the user interface device 310. In some embodiments, the network308 may also facilitate communication of data between the server 302 andother servers/processors, such as server 302 b. For example, the network308 may include a switched fabric computer network communications linkto facilitate communication between servers/processors, also referred toas data storage nodes. In some embodiments, the servers 302 and 302 bmay represent nodes or clusters of nodes managed by a softwareframework. The network 308 may include any type of communicationsnetwork including, but not limited to, a direct PC-to-PC connection, alocal area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a modem-to-modemconnection, the Internet, a combination of the above, or any othercommunications network now known or later developed within thenetworking arts which permits two or more computers to communicate.

FIG. 4 illustrates a computer system 400 adapted according to certainembodiments of a server and/or a user interface device. The centralprocessing unit (“CPU”) 402 is coupled to the system bus 404. The CPU402 may be a general purpose CPU or microprocessor, graphics processingunit (“GPU”), and/or microcontroller. Thus, a processor as disclosedherein may refer to a single processor or multiple processors operatingin a collaborative fashion as one processor. The present embodiments arenot restricted by the architecture of the CPU 402 so long as the CPU402, whether directly or indirectly, supports the operations asdescribed herein. The CPU 402 may execute the various logicalinstructions according to the present embodiments.

The computer system 400 may also include random access memory (RAM) 408,which may be synchronous RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), synchronousdynamic RAM (SDRAM), or the like. The computer system 400 may utilizeRAM 408 to store the various data structures used by a softwareapplication. The computer system 400 may also include read only memory(ROM) 406 which may be PROM, EPROM, EEPROM, optical storage, or thelike. The ROM may store configuration information for booting thecomputer system 400. The RAM 408 and the ROM 406 hold user and systemdata, and both the RAM 408 and the ROM 406 may be randomly accessed.

The computer system 400 may also include an input/output (I/O) adapter410, a communications adapter 414, a user interface adapter 416, and adisplay adapter 422. The I/O adapter 410 and/or the user interfaceadapter 416 may, in certain embodiments, enable a user to interact withthe computer system 400. In a further embodiment, the display adapter422 may display a graphical user interface (GUI) associated with asoftware or web-based application on a display device 424, such as amonitor or touch screen.

The I/O adapter 410 may couple one or more storage devices 412, such asone or more of a hard drive, a solid state storage device, a flashdrive, a compact disc (CD) drive, a floppy disk drive, and a tape drive,to the computer system 400. According to one embodiment, the datastorage 412 may be a separate server coupled to the computer system 400through a network connection to the I/O adapter 410. The communicationsadapter 414 may be adapted to couple the computer system 400 to anetwork, which may be one or more of a LAN, WAN, and/or the Internet.The user interface adapter 416 couples user input devices, such as akeyboard 420, a pointing device 418, and/or a touch screen (not shown)to the computer system 400. The display adapter 422 may be driven by theCPU 402 to control the display on the display device 424. Any of thedevices 402-422 may be physical and/or logical.

The applications of the present disclosure are not limited to thearchitecture of computer system 400. Rather the computer system 400 isprovided as an example of one type of computing system that may beadapted to perform the functions of a server and/or the user interfacedevice 410. For example, any suitable processor-based device may beutilized including, without limitation, personal data assistants (PDAs),tablet computers, smartphones, computer game consoles, andmulti-processor servers. Moreover, the systems and methods of thepresent disclosure may be implemented on application specific integratedcircuits (ASIC), very large scale integrated (VLSI) circuits, or othercircuitry. In fact, persons of ordinary skill in the art may utilize anynumber of suitable structures capable of executing logical operationsaccording to the described embodiments. For example, in someembodiments, aspects of the computer system 400 may be virtualized foraccess by multiple users and/or applications.

If implemented in firmware and/or software, the functions describedabove may be stored as one or more instructions or code on acomputer-readable medium. Examples include non-transitorycomputer-readable media encoded with a data structure andcomputer-readable media encoded with a computer program.Computer-readable media includes physical computer storage media. Astorage medium may be any available medium that can be accessed by acomputer. By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readablemedia can comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical diskstorage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or anyother medium that can be used to store desired program code in the formof instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by acomputer. Disk and disc includes compact discs (CD), laser discs,optical discs, digital versatile discs (DVD), floppy disks and blu-raydiscs. Generally, disks reproduce data magnetically, and discs reproducedata optically. Combinations of the above should also be included withinthe scope of computer-readable media.

In addition to storage on computer-readable media, instructions and/ordata may be provided as signals on transmission media included in acommunication apparatus. For example, a communication apparatus mayinclude a transceiver having signals indicative of instructions anddata. The instructions and data may be configured to cause one or moreprocessors to implement the functions outlined in the claims.

Although the present disclosure and its advantages have been describedin detail, it should be understood that various changes, substitutionsand alterations can be made herein without departing from the spirit andscope of the disclosure as defined by the appended claims. Moreover, thescope of the present application is not intended to be limited to theparticular embodiments of the process, machine, manufacture, compositionof matter, means, methods and steps described in the specification. Asone of ordinary skill in the art will readily appreciate from thepresent invention, disclosure, machines, manufacture, compositions ofmatter, means, methods, or steps, presently existing or later to bedeveloped that perform substantially the same function or achievesubstantially the same result as the corresponding embodiments describedherein may be utilized according to the present disclosure. Accordingly,the appended claims are intended to include within their scope suchprocesses, machines, manufacture, compositions of matter, means,methods, or steps.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for configuring a process that uses IPv4communication without associating the IPv4 process with an IP loopbackaddress, comprising: receiving, by a processor, a message to configurean IPv4 process; determining, by the processor, if a configurationparameter associated with the received message is set to indicate thatone or more default IP loopback addresses are to be used as IP loopbackaddresses to associate with the IPv4 process; and completing, by theprocessor, the configuration of the IPv4 process without associating anIP loopback address with the IPv4 process when the configurationparameter is determined to not be set to indicate that one or moredefault IP loopback addresses are to be used as IP loopback addresses toassociate with the IPv4 process.
 2. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising associating an IP loopback address of the one or more delimitIP loopback addresses with the IPv4 process when the configurationparameter is determined to be set to indicate that one or more defaultIP loopback addresses are to be used as IP loopback addresses toassociate with the IPv4 process.
 3. The method of claim 2, furthercomprising: determining if the one or more default IP loopback addressesexist in a memory, wherein the association of an IP loopback address ofthe one or more default IP loopback addresses with the IPv4 process isperformed in response to determining that the one or more default IPloopback addresses exist in the memory; and outputting an error signalwhen the one or more default IP loopback addresses are determined to notexist in the memory and the configuration parameter is determined to beset to indicate that one or more default IP loopback addresses are to beused as IP loopback addresses to associate with the IPv4 process.
 4. Themethod of claim 2, further comprising: determining if addresses of oneor more IP loopback addresses to associate with the IPv4 process havebeen received in association with the message; and associating the oneor more IP loopback addresses with the IPv4 process when the addressesof the one or more IP loopback addresses to associate with the IPv4process are received in association with the message.
 5. The method ofclaim 4, further comprising: determining if an IP loopback addressincluded in the one or more IP loopback addresses received inassociation with the message is also included in the one or more defaultIP loopback addresses; and modifying a list of IP loopback addressesassociated with the IPv4 process to remove duplicates when an IPloopback address included in the one or more IP loopback addressesreceived in association with the message is determined to also beincluded in the one or more default IP loopback addresses.
 6. A computerprogram product, comprising: a non-transitory computer readable mediumcomprising instructions which, when executed by a processor of acomputer system, cause the processor to perform the steps of: receivinga message to configure an IPv4 process; determining if a configurationparameter associated with the received message is set to indicate thatone or more default IP loopback addresses are to be used as IP loopbackaddresses to associate with the IPv4 process; and completing theconfiguration of the IPv4 process without associating an IP loopbackaddress with the IPv4 process when the configuration parameter isdetermined to not be set to indicate that one or more default IPloopback addresses are to be used as IP loopback addresses to associatewith the IPv4 process.
 7. The computer program product of claim 6,wherein the medium further comprises instructions which cause theprocessor to perform the step of associating an IP loopback address ofthe one or more default IP loopback addresses with the IPv4 process whenthe configuration parameter is determined to be set to indicate that oneor more default IP loopback addresses are to be used as IP loopbackaddresses to associate with the IPv4 process.
 8. The computer programproduct of claim 7, wherein the medium further comprises instructionswhich cause the processor to perform the steps of: determining if theone or more default IP loopback addresses exist in a memory, wherein theassociation of an IP loopback address of the one or more default IPloopback addresses with the IPv4 process is performed in response todetermining that the one or more default IP loopback addresses exist inthe memory; and outputting an error signal when the one or more defaultIP loopback addresses are determined to not exist in the memory and theconfiguration parameter is determined to be set to indicate that one ormore default IP loopback addresses are to be used as IP loopbackaddresses to associate with the IPv4 process.
 9. The computer programproduct of claim 7, wherein the medium further comprises instructionswhich cause the processor to perform the steps of: determining ifaddresses of one or more IP loopback addresses to associate with theIPv4 process have been received in association with the message; andassociating the one or more IP loopback addresses with the IPv4 processwhen the addresses of the one or more IP loopback addresses to associatewith the IPv4 process are received in association with the message. 10.The computer program product of claim 9, wherein the medium furthercomprises instructions which cause the processor to perform the stepsof: determining if an IP loopback address included in the one or more IPloopback addresses received in association with the message is alsoincluded in the one or more default IP loopback addresses; and modifyinga list of IP loopback addresses associated with the IPv4 process toremove duplicates when an IP loopback address included in the one ormore IP loopback addresses received in association with the message isdetermined to also be included in the one or more default IP loopbackaddresses.
 11. An apparatus, comprising: a memory; and a processorcoupled to the memory, wherein the processor is further configured toperform the steps of: receiving a message to configure an IPv4 process;determining if a configuration parameter associated with the receivedmessage is set to indicate that one or more default IP loopbackaddresses are to be used as IP loopback addresses to associate with theIPv4 process; and completing the configuration of the IPv4 processwithout associating an IP loopback address with the IPv4 process whenthe configuration parameter is determined to not be set to indicate thatone or more default IP loopback addresses are to be used as IP loopbackaddresses to associate with the IPv4 process.
 12. The apparatus of claim11, wherein the processor is further configured to perform the step ofassociating an IP loopback address of the one or more default IPloopback addresses with the IPv4 process when the configurationparameter is determined to be set to indicate that one or more defaultIP loopback addresses are to be used as IP loopback addresses toassociate with the IPv4 process.
 13. The apparatus of claim 12, whereinthe processor is further configured to perform the steps of: determiningif the one or more default IP loopback addresses exist in a memory,wherein the association of an IP loopback address of the one or moredefault IP loopback addresses with the IPv4 process is performed inresponse to determining that the one or more default IP loopbackaddresses exist in the memory; and outputting an error signal when theone or more default IP loopback addresses are determined to not exist inthe memory and the configuration parameter is determined to be set toindicate that one or more default IP loopback addresses are to be usedas IP loopback addresses to associate with the IPv4 process.
 14. Theapparatus of claim 12, wherein the processor is further configured toperform the steps of: determining if addresses of one or more IPloopback addresses to associate with the IPv4 process have been receivedin association with the message; and associating the one or more IPloopback addresses with the IPv4 process when the addresses of the oneor more IP loopback addresses to associate with the IPv4 process arereceived in association with the message.
 15. The apparatus of claim 14,wherein the processor is further configured to perform the steps of:determining if an IP loopback address included in the one or more IPloopback addresses received in association with the message is alsoincluded in the one or more default IP loopback addresses; and modifyinga list of IP loopback addresses associated with the IPv4 process toremove duplicates when an IP loopback address included in the one ormore IP loopback addresses received in association with the message isdetermined to also be included in the one or more default IP loopbackaddresses.